Spin excitations in nanometric magnetic dots: calculations and comparison with light scattering measurements

Recent theoretical results obtained in the field of spin excitations in nanometric magnetic dots are reviewed. The dynamical matrix method and analytical approaches are described and applied to the cases of circular and elliptical planar permalloy dots. For discs, the spin dynamics in the vortex and saturated states is investigated. For saturated ellipses, the dependence of frequencies and mode profiles is studied as a function of the direction of the in-plane applied field and dot eccentricity. The results allow us to interpret Brillouin scattering data in terms of mode symmetry and localization.